Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Dog On Wheels
2. State I Am In, The
3. String Bean Jean
4. Belle & Sebastian

Disc 2:

1. Lazy Line Painter Jane
2. You Made Me Forget My Dreams
3. Photo Jenny
4. Century Of Elvis, A
5. Lazy Line Painter Jane
6. You Made Me Forget My Dreams
7. Photo Jenny
8. Century of Elvis

Disc 3:

1. Century Of Fakers, A
2. Le Pastie De La Bourgeoise
3. Beautiful
4. Put The Book Back On The Shelf
5. Century of Fakers
6. Pastie de la Bourgeoisie
7. Beautiful
8. Put the Book Back on the Shelf

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113218 in Music
• Released on: 2000-03-07
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, EP

Album Description
Fans who missed out on the 3 import EPs between 'If You're Feeling Sinister' and 'The Boy With the Arab Strap' should pick up this set that puts them all in 1 box, as it's quality work and all non-LP material. A Matador Records release.

Amazon.com
The three four-song EPs that Belle and Sebastian released on their own Jeepster label in 1997 are regarded by many fans to be their most enjoyable artifacts, and it's hard to argue. Like a Peel session, there is a looser feel to these recordings; they're less perfectionist than the proper albums they bookend (Tigermilk and Sinister). And this is their charm: Stuart Murdoch and friends augment their preciously fey, orchestral pop with cross-genre elements and two great songs with spoken word on top that remind one of similar experiments conducted by the Mekons in the mid-'80s. The first EP includes an early, pre-Tigermilk demo of "Dog on Wheels," a delicious ditty that sounds like Nick Drake and Burt Bacharach working out a song in a practice space somewhere in Edinburgh. The choice to issue the music in facsimile editions--the only thing new is a piece of cardboard--rather than the single disc onto which they would easily fit seems a tad suspect. But these EPs do capture an unsteady group with great influences and good ideas in the act of transcending that to become one of the 1990s' smartest, most enjoyably decadent pop acts. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

This box set made me a fan
I have always heard B+S spoken well of, but pretty much only in indie rock circles which can be kinda stuffy and closed-minded, so I didn't know to put much stock in it. I figured I'd give them a shot when the opportunity presented itself instead of going out of my way. That day came when I saw this box set at a retail store "going out of business sale" and I snapped it up for 4 bucks.

OK- a few things here: best 4 bucks I've spent in a LONG time. I would have gladly paid more than full price for this sucker had I know how great it was. Also, I'm SO angry at myself for waiting so long to get to know this great music! The EP set is only the tip of the iceberg, as they have four or five full-lengths, but I so admire their dedication to the EP format. Each of these (and Jonathan David, which I also got and strongly recommend!) have their own character and flavor.

Major highlight is "Lazy Line Painter Jane" which is the kind of song that could have ruled the airwaves back when Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High" was a miserable failure. It reaches such orgasmic heights of Phil Specto-rama, with layer upon layer of sound building and building (AND BUILDING AND BUILDING) around the duet between Stewart and the soulful white girl Monica White. The lyrics are vague in a Stewart kind of way, with enough evocative references to "boys" and "girls" who's lives are potentially altered by the "last bus out of town" to make you buy into this grandiose drama of human feeling without knowing exactly what the hell is going on (Dylan-esque? Yes!) It's a total geek-out! And I just LOVE how that bass line recenters the focus after the first verse, breaks it all down and then builds it back up! You da man, Stewart!

He isn't afraid to bring alot to the party, either. There's a home in this indie-rock for slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, harmonica, violins and strings and synths that sound like violins and strings- and it's deadly sincere. There's no joking around here. The people in charge of making this light and airy music are serious craftsmen and super-talented arrangers. They give a damn about making the best song they can.

I can't wait to absorb more of their music. This is such a great band, and I'd urge people to buy this box set. I found it an incredible way to start in on Belle and Sebastian!

Can You Say Bargain? What Are You Waiting For?
I am from Manhattan and one day as I was in a chain record store, another person and I started chatting about music (these things happen all the time in Manhattan). It turned out that both of us were HUGE Belle & Sebastian fans (the lucky sod owned an ORIGINAL copy of "Tigermilk"--I almost mugged him there on the spot! These things happen all the time in Manhattan...LOL. Not really.). When he heard how much I love B&S, he literally dragged me over to the cd singles section and thrust the three original import singles at me and said, "Do yourself a favor." As I didn't even KNOW that B&S had issued the singles at the time (it had been a difficult year), I immediately ran, debit card in hand, to the register and then sat impatiently at work the rest of the day until I could get home and thrust these into the cd player. And then promptly hit the repeat button. My favorite of these three absolutely wonderful, tuneful, whimsical, perfect cd single bonbons is "3...6...9...Seconds of Light" (he preferred "Dog on Wheels" I remember), but all of them are ABSOLUTELY INDISPENSIBLE. And then I think how lucky all you people out there can be to get ALL THREE at one time without having to pay import prices and want to drag you--or your mouse--to the "Put this in my shopping cart" button so you can bliss out yourselves. Now if you will pardon me, I need to hit that repeat button again...

Quiet Pop Thunder from Glaswegian Septet Royale.
The state that I am in is absolute elan. "I was surpised, I has happy for a day.. in 1975." It's high time to Get Happy once again, party people. With the domestic release of these hidden gems from Belle & Sebastian comes greater insight into the great phenomenon known as Belle Fever.. "Who can explain it?," the media asks. "How can these unknowns runaway with Best Newcomer at the Brits?" I'll tell you who can explain it. One Mister Stuart Murdoch. It is he, and only he, who can muster the words, the melody - the very reason WHY Belle and Sebastian have gained such esteem. For from his mind, through his fingers, and out from his voice.. comes magic. Majestic.. Pop Grandeur. Take even the simplest of songs in this collection - "String Bean Jean." Listen just once. If you're not shaking your bum and swooning when Mr. Murdoch sings "The girls have got a house, it's like a caravan... and it's like your on holiday whenever you come round..", then you have the blackest of hearts!